Start from 28 curated places around Lake Como, IT, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Dispensa 63, Bellagio
A small room on a cobblestone lane in Bellagio's historic centre with a communal table format and an open kitchen producing inventive Italian dishes with unexpected combinations — ginger risotto with lime, chilled spaghetti with passion fruit and fish roe, seasonal preparations based on whatever came from the lake or the surrounding valleys. One of the most original kitchens in the lake towns.
La Punta Spartivento, Bellagio
A restaurant at the northernmost tip of the Bellagio promontory, where the table sits at the point where the three branches of Lake Como divide and the Alps rise on both sides. The menu focuses on the lake's own fish — lavarello (whitefish), persico (perch), agone (shad) — alongside a broader Italian selection, in a setting that leaves little room for anything other than staring at the water.
Trails & outdoors
Sentiero del Viandante — Bellano to Varenna
The most celebrated hiking route on Lake Como follows an ancient pilgrims' and merchants' road along the eastern shore, with sections dated to Roman times. The Bellano-to-Varenna stretch is the most rewarding section — 6km with 280m elevation through chestnut forest and above-lake cliff paths, with views down to the water that the lakeside road entirely misses. AllTrails rates this section 4.7 stars.
Lake Como Greenway — Colonno to Griante
An 11km waymarked trail along the western shore following the ancient Via Regina through the villages of Sala Comacina, Ossuccio, Lenno, and Tremezzo, connecting the lake's most celebrated garden villas on foot. The route passes directly through the grounds of Villa del Balbianello and the olive groves behind Villa Carlotta in an almost continuous sequence of historic and botanical interest.
Things to do
Public Ferry — Full Lake Circuit
The Navigazione Laghi public ferry network connects every significant lake town from Como to Colico, with car ferries crossing the middle lake (Bellagio-Varenna-Menaggio) and slower passenger boats stopping at each village along both shores. A day ticket purchased at any pier allows unlimited hop-on, hop-off travel across the full lake and is the most flexible and least expensive way to see multiple towns without a car.
Museo della Seta — Como Silk Museum
Como controls roughly 70 percent of European silk production and this museum in the city centre explains the full arc of that industry — from the silk road origins through Como's 19th-century industrial growth to its current role supplying the world's leading fashion houses. The textile printing equipment on display is the most complete collection of this type in Italy and the colour-matching archive (used by fashion brands today) is extraordinary.
Landmarks & sights
Villa Monastero, Varenna
A 12th-century Cistercian nunnery converted into a private villa over several centuries, now open to the public with lakefront botanical gardens extending for 2km along the Varenna shore and a series of elaborately furnished interior rooms available by guided tour. The long lakeside promenade through the gardens, with the lake directly at shoulder height, is the most intimate villa experience on Como.
Castello di Vezio, Varenna
A medieval fortress on the hillside above Varenna, reachable by a 20-minute steep path from the village, with the most complete panoramic view of the three-branched lake meeting point at Bellagio. The castle itself dates to the 11th century and houses a falconry display, but the view from the ramparts — with Bellagio directly below and the Alps framing both lake branches — is the draw.